Tiger Claw
Takeshi (aka Tiger Claw) is a mutant tiger assassin/bounty hunter originating from Japan who becomes an ally of The Shredder and an enemy of the Ninja Turtles , and the brother of Alopex in the 2012 animated series. He perfectly knows his profession, making him an extremely dangerous opponent. He is also Donnie's rival. History Early Life When Tiger Claw was a young human boy in his small village, he and his sister Alopex were playing in a playground when they came across a Kraang portal which they decided to enter, believing it to be a magic door. Afterwards, the Kraang mutated and experimented on them. After many months of hardships, they escaped together through a portal back to Earth. Believing that they were monsters now, they fled their home and found refuge in a circus sideshow, but felt their skills were much too valuable for that and eventually became top-level assassins in the criminal underworld. They were notorious and feared, but one day Alopex turned on him attempting to kill him, and the two savagely fought in a lethal duel. The fight resulted in Alopex cutting off Tiger Claw's tail with her sword, taking it as a trophy, and escaping, but also being severely wounded in the process. Although she escaped, Tiger Claw initially believed that her wounds would be too grave for her to survive. However, as he learned later on, he was wrong, and she now wears his tail around her waist as a belt. Tiger Claw has been relentlessly searching for her with a vow to make her pay. Tiger Claw continued to build on his mercenary reputation. Due to this, he was eventually hired by the Shredder and is now his most dreaded, yet revered assassin and bounty hunter from Japan (Shredder finds him on his journey to Japan and enlists him as his newest henchman). He has traveled many lands - and his weapons are only prizes of his conquests. Season 2: Wormquake!: '''When Tiger Claw makes his debut in this episode, he is ready for fight the Turtles and Master Splinter with Karai, but is eaten by a Kraathatrogon. 'The Wrath of Tiger Claw:' Tiger Claw returns from escaping the belly of the Kraathatrogon and traveling through multiple dimensions back to Shredder for vengeance against the Turtles, first going after Casey Jones before being stopped from killing Leonardo by Karai. 'The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto:' Tiger Claw participates in the search for The Kuro Kabuto with Rahzar, Fishface and Stockman-Fly. 'Vengeance is Mine:' Tiger Claw fights Karai when she was rescued by the Turtles before mutated into a snake. 'The Invasion:' Tiger Claw fights Leo with Rahzar and Fishface before attacking the other three Turtles at April O'Neil's house. Season 3: 'Vision Quest:' Tiger Claw returns as a spiritual vision fighting Mystic Donatello with the aid of the Foot Soldiers. 'Return to New York:' After the Turtles return to search for Splinter, Shredder and Tiger Claw find the Turtles with Master Splinter in Stockman-Fly's lab, fighting Shredder's mutant clones. He attempts to capture the Turtles, Splinter, April, and Casey as they escape in the Party Wagon, but fails when Mikey burns him from behind. 'Serpent Hunt: Tiger Claw makes a brief appearance in Shredder's lair, where Shredder threatens Rahzar and Fishface that they'll be handed over to him if they don't find Karai. ''The Pig and the Rhino'': Tiger Claw makes another brief appearance watching Shredder beat up Bebop and Rocksteady. ''Casey Jones VS. The Underworld'':''' He and Fishface are present during the Shredder's visit to Don Vizioso. Later, Tiger Claw is seen on Auman Chemicals factory where he is fighting Raph '''Clash of the Mutanimals':' Tiger Claw is seen making a deal with the Fulci Twins, trading a case of money for the final ingredient of Shredder's mind control serum. Everything is going great until Slash and the Mighty Mutanimals show up. He defeats them all and kicks Leatherhead and Pigeon Pete into the river, escaping with Slash and Dr. Tyler Rockwell. He is later seen fighting Mikey and tieing Mikey in his own nunchucks. 'Meet Mondo Gecko:' 'Attack of the Mega Shredder:' 'Annihilation Earth':'' He helped fight the Triceratons and helped prevent the Heart of Darkness from starting.'' Season 4 Journey to the Center of Mikey's Mind: Tiger Claw made a cameo in Michelangelo's imagination. '''Trans-Dimensional Turtles': Tiger Claw cuts open the Kraathatrogon that ate him and fought against the 1987 Turtles '''Earth's Last Stand: Tiger Claw helps up a beaten Shredder and promised Splinter that he and the Foot Clan will return Personality As befits a tiger, Tiger Claw is aggressive and ferocious, as well as vengeful and a good hunter. And like the best of assassins he is relentless and cruel. Brutality is second nature to him. But he respects other warriors like Rahzar and his employers like Shredder. Gadgets Tiger Claw has a western outfit, wears bandoliers full of replacement bullets and carries several weapons, among which include a giant sword for hand to hand combat, a firerarm able to shoot nets and freeze rays and another high-powered firearm with the ability to fire red lasers. Tiger Claw also has a sniper rifle and a jetpack for evasion and escape. Powers and Skills He has the strength, speed, and acrobatic of a tiger as well as razor sharp claws and sharp teeth (though he could well be stronger than a normal one). '''Acrobatics: '''He seems to have very flexible skills that he may have learned from other acrobats during his circus days. '''Savage Might and Fighting Skills: '''He is a very skilled and powerful fighter for Shredder as he was able to escape the Kraathatrogon, fight off an army of Kraang, and defeat the Turtles. He proved himself a formidable opponent for Splinter, although the more experienced fighter clearly had a slight upper hand. '''Enhanced Senses: '''His sense of smell is even greater that of Rahzar. He was able track down his enemy from further away. He can hear a mouse skittering around in an alleyway from far distance. '''Enhanced Strength: '''It is mentioned that he is three times stronger than Donatello. He has shown his strength was able to hold his own battle against the Turtles in The Wrath of Tiger Claw. Also he was able to throw Leo weight to April's building and bend a steel bar with his hands. He can also jump high enough to land on the window. '''Enhanced Speed and Agility '''Due to his mutant form Tiger Claw is very fast and and agile as he was able to avoid Raph's attacks. Karai was also faced a difficulty keeping up with him. '''Intelligence and Communication: '''He seems to have his intelligence as human and has retained despite his mutation, since he is shown to know why Shredder wants him to work with Karai because she knows where they are but she didn't figure it out. As he was able to figure ways to win against his opponents as he was able to make them call Master Splinter. He is able to speak perfectly and can still roar and growl while talking. '''Stamina and Endurance: '''His stamina is not yet shown to be exhausted to fight at all since he was facing the Turtles. He also said that he face the army of Kraang to escape their home. His muscular body is able to take the attacks Karai as shown no sign that he was in pain from her. Character Interactions Tiger Claw (Character Interactions) Trivia *Tiger Claw is a master of all weapons and collects them from most of the warriors that he defeats in mortal combat. *Tiger Claw's bullet bandoliers have an "X" buckle that resembles a sideways NES controller D-pad. *"Tiger Claw" in Japanese spells the words Tora No Tsume, which is also a popular type of Katana sword. *Tiger Claw was taken to the dimension of the 1987 Turtles at the end of the episode 'Wormquake' and was shown to engage them in combat in a flashback in the episode 'The Wrath of TIger Claw.' Gallery Tiger Claw/Gallery Category:Characters Category:Villains Category:Shredder's Henchmen Category:Male characters Category:Turtles enemies Category:Kraang's enemies Category:Bad Guys Category:Mutants Category:Evil Mutants Category:The Foot Clan Category:Assassins Category:Cats Category:Former Humans